The Gemstone Quartet
by Zgirl714
Summary: Naevia and Crixus find quiet moments in the turbulent ludus of Batiatus. spoilers for all of Blood and Sand.


The Gemstone Quartet

Naevia and Crixus find quiet moments in the turbulent ludus of Batiatus.

Series Notes: The Gemstone Quartet was an expansion of two older drabbles that I posted in early 2010. I finished the series but I must have forgot to post the other drabbles. I just found this today after cleaning up my hard drive. Set throughout Spartacus: Blood and Sand with spoilers for the second half of that season.

Title: Opal  
>Pairing: NaeviaCrixus  
>Rating: G (as this fandom gets)<br>Summary: Naevia sneaks into the sickroom to visit Crixus.

Story Notes: The opal is said to be many things including the most powerful of healing stones, the stone of hope, the stone of great achievement and even the "stone of the Gods". Set Post-Shadow Games.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm just playing around with them.

Naevia crept down the hall to the room of the Medicus where Crixus lay, bloody and dazed, but alive. The champion of Capua would not let even death defeat him. Ever since that horrid day in the arena, she had relived the fight and the blows that had fallen on him. Naevia could still hear the roar of the crowd in her nightmares. She ignored the snores of the Medicus on his cot in the corner of the room as she walked to Crixus' side. Slipping her fingers through his, Naevia smiled at her gladiator with tears in her eyes.

"I was hoping it was you," Crixus murmured as he cracked opened his eyes and brought her hand to his lips.

Naevia brushed her fingers through his hair while he held her other hand. "I couldn't stand the thought of you unattended." She drew away before bringing him a cup of water and helping him drink. "You gave me quite a fright, but..." She looked away from his questioning dark gaze.

"But, what?" He set the cup down and bit back a groan as she helped him lay back down.

"But I forgot that you were the undefeated Gaul."  
>Title: Emerald (Second in the Gemstone Quartet)<br>Author: Sami  
>Rating: PG-16<br>Pairing: Naevia/Crixus, mention of Crixus/Lucretia  
>Summary: Naevia waits for Crixus. Set between episode 8 and 9.<br>Notes: The emerald is the sacred stone of the goddess Venus. It was thought to preserve love.

Naevia crouched in the shadows of the wine racks and the stairs, ignoring the spider that crept over her hand, without a sound. The Domina rested upon silks in the villa and had dismissed her to tend to Crixus in the ludus. Naevia couldn't help the smirk that threatened to ruin her practiced composure. If the accursed woman only knew how she tended to the gladiator, she thought before a chill went down her spine at the thought of what could happen if the Domina ever found out. Her smirk dissolved.

Footsteps, strong and true, sounded in the stone hall.

Naevia pressed herself, heart beating louder to her ears than any drum, against the wall. Could it be her gladiator, she asked herself without moving from her hiding place. Discretion had been something she absorbed through her mother's milk, it was how a slave survived, even if she wasn't caught in a complex love affair. She wouldn't reveal herself until she knew it was Crixus.

The leather boots and strong legs came into her view first then his chiseled torso and powerful arms before his handsome face. It was the real champion of Capua; the man who brought the rain.

Naevia hadn't seen him in many days so she savored the sight of him, more like the get of Jupiter than a mortal man, in the gloom. If only the bars didn't block her view, she thought as she rose and went to him. She curled her fingers around the rusty bars.

"Its been too long, sweetheart." Crixus murmured gruffly as he put his rough hands over hers.

"It always is." Naevia smiled, tipping her head up to gaze into his eyes, so often flinty in the arena yet gentle around her. She wouldn't have dreamed to have such a lover.

He kissed her softly as if requesting permission.

Naevia deepened their kiss despite the metal between them. Sometimes, it helped to think that while her vile Domina got his cock, she had his heart. This was not one of those times.

Title: Moonstone (Third in the Gemstone Quartet)  
>Author: Sami<br>Fandom: Spartacus: Blood and Sand  
>Pairing: NaeviaCrixus  
>Rating: Teen<br>Summary: Naevia finds to Crixus after his victory in the primus. Set after "Old Wounds", but before "Revelations."  
>Notes: Moonstone is considered good luck and supposedly can amp up the passion in a relationship.<p>

"You weren't there," Crixus murmured, rough and bloodied fingers curled around the bars. Circles ringed his eyes and he smelled of the Medicus' herbal ointment. So strong in the arena, there was something so vulnerable in his expression as he looked down.

Naevia's throat tightened and the tears came to her eyes. If only her will was her own and defiance of her masters didn't come at such a high price. Much like an oak, she would have planted her feet and watched her lover become a champion again. She had no stomach for the blood and violence, but Crixus had needed her. The Domina had come between them once more. "Domina drank deeply and once ordered, I had to escort her home." She rushed to unlock the door. "Apologies, my love. If I had the liberty, I would have been there to bask in the glory of your victory." Taking his bruised face in her her hands, Naevia said, "I knew that you would prevail."

Crixus leaned his forehead against hers. "The gold in the Pompenian purse felt more like brass in my hand. The roar of the crowd never sounded as hollow."

"Don't say that." Naevia gave him a peck on the lips. "You fought like a champion."

He brushed his thumbs across the apples of her cheeks and smiled. He kissed her deeply, hands running down to rest on her lower back, before he said, "To think I should find such a woman as you. Naevia," he said her name as if it were sacred. "Truly, Venus blesses us." He held her as if she were a fine lady.

She leaned back and grinned. "Surely, the goddess does." Combing her fingers through his spikey hair, she couldn't help but relish the hold she had over the gladiator. So fierce in the arena, but so tender to her. "I always hoped I would die a maid. Never would I have believed in a love such as ours, but you make the impossible real." She kissed him and murmured against his lips. "You made the rain fall."

"The Dominus owns my body, but my heart has only one mistress." Crixus led her back towards their hidden nook. He laughed, low and deep, as he pressed feather light kisses along her neck. "I never thought I would be a love besotted fool. I've mocked other for lesser poetics." His laugh was a rich masculine sounds that made her trembling knees weaker.

Naevia brought his face up and caressed him. "We're both fools in love." She couldn't stop the blush that warmed her cheeks. She might no longer be a maid, but she still felt like once around him. "Let us become one."

He kissed as he fought, pressing her against the wall, with a passion.

Naevia knew that, despite her best efforts, she had thoroughly lost her heart to the gladiator and she didn't want it back. She thought she heard something, a scuffle of feet perhaps, but Crixus unpinned her dress and all thoughts of the outside world fell from her.

Title: Ruby (Last in the Gemstone Quartet)  
>Author: Sami<br>Fandom: Spartacus: Blood and Sand  
>Pairing: NaeviaCrixus  
>Rating: Teen<br>Summary:  
>Notes: Rubies are supposedly the most powerful gem in the universe and give protection.<p>

Naevia felt the bile burn in her throat as the whip cracked again and again. She forced herself to watch her lover's punishment. Crixus, her love besotted fool, had exposed their forbidden romance at the worst moment, but she had known they were running on borrowed time. Happiness rarely filtered down to slaves. Every gift from the Gods had its price and they had been given a love that made the poets weep and playwrights reach for their scrolls.

Crixus's pained groans hurt far more than her Domina's enraged beating. She would have taken the blows for him if the guards hadn't held her back. Struggling, she forgot all the brutal training that hand transformed her into a docile handmaiden as she witnessed her beloved's suffering.

The guard shook her until her teeth rattled.

She knew not how long the whipping went on, only that once Doctore stilled his whip, she threw herself towards her gladiator. This would be her last chance before the slave traders took her away. Naevia could never regret their time together. She had never known a love as powerful as that she found in the arms of a champion. She knew he had felt the same. Cruel fate might part them, but nothing could ever take way the memories of what they had shared. Naevia fought to be closer in order to memorize his features before she was dragged from the ludus.

Doctore interceded on their behalf, but Naevia had only eyes for Crixus.

She reached for him, fingers touching his face, and forced herself to find the right words. The broken expression on his face wounded her. She could see fear in his eyes, something she had never seen before, and she knew it was for her. Naevia knew that the Domina looked down upon them but she didn't care. She had already been sold; her hair had been cut; her love had been humbled. Sobbing, she kissed Crixus and prayed, to every god she had ever heard of, that they might meet again before the afterlife.


End file.
